Cricket World Cup secretariat may be shifted to India

Karachi, March 9 (IANS) The 2011 World Cup Secretariat that is being established in Lahore could be relocated to India in the wake of a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in the city earlier this month, media reports said here Monday. Media reports quoting International Cricket Council (ICC) sources said that the ICC and the Organising Committee of the 2011 World Cup are seriously considering the idea of moving the Secretariat away from Pakistan.

The reports suggested that the chances of Pakistan retaining its right as a World Cup co-host are bleak after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore Tuesday that has raised a big question mark on Pakistan’s status as an international sporting destination.

Before the attacks, Pakistan was planning to push forward long-delayed preparations for the 2011 World Cup on fast track. Salman Sarwar Butt, a senior Karachi-based banker who was appointed as World Cup managing director, was supposed to join office last week. However, Butt is yet to begin his work.

The four World Cup hosts - Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - were told by the ICC at a meeting in New Delhi last month that they are behind schedule as far as preparations for the prestigious tournament was concerned.

The Lahore ambush has further dented World Cup preparations and, according to the reports, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) might be forced to surrender the Secretariat which will now most likely shift to India.